| A Bill to establish a common Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) for central taxes was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, here on Friday. Currently, there are two Authorities for Advance Rulings one under the Income Tax law and the other for central excise, customs and sales tax related issues.
The Government had, after reviewing the performance of these two Authorities, concluded that they did not have adequate work to justify separate establishments.
A decision was therefore taken to constitute a common Authority for Advance Rulings for performing the functions of these two Authorities. Hence, the current move to enact separate legislation for constituting a common Authority for Advance Rulings on central taxes.
The Authority for Advance Rulings were established to enable applicants to obtain, in advance, binding rulings from these authorities on issues that may arise in the determination of tax liabilities.
The proposed Authority for Advance Rulings on central taxes would consist of a chairperson and three members. The existing Authority for Advance Rulings on Income Tax has a chairperson and two members.
Similarly, the Authority for Advance Rulings on Customs, excise and service tax has a chairperson and two members.
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